A Trip to a Port Village
by RainFlower24
Summary: Leah finally gets the day off of her ninja duties, and finds herself bored with no one to hang out with and nothing to do. That's when she runs into Shikamaru and his dad, whom are leaving for a trip to a port village nearby for the day.


Finally, a day off of training and missions. I never knew becoming a chunnin would be so much work. Not to mention being on the same team and Zaine and Brandon was always a full time job.

I sighed to myself as I walked along the village's main road. The only problem with this lazy day was that I had absolutely nothing to do. The boys are out with Misuri sensei, Ten ten is training with her team, Kiba's out on a mission, and I have no idea where Shikamaru is.

"Hey Leah." A voice announced behind me, causing me to jump.

"You scared me." I admitted, turning around to see Shikamaru walking up to me. His hands were in his pockets and he had the same, bored look on his face. Though today, he looked just a little more irritated than usual. "What's up?"

"Not much, I'm just waiting for my dad to meet me here." He replied with a yawn. "It's my mother's birthday tomorrow, and me and my dad always go to the port village nearby to get her something. It's a drag, but it's got to be done."

"Port Village?" I questioned. "I don't think I've ever been there."

"Oh really." A new voice entered our conversation. We both looked up, seeing Shikaku, Shikamaru's dad, standing beside us. "It's a lovely town, only an hour's walk from the village. Around this time of the year, all the flowers are in bloom along the way. And in the village, they sell fresh fruits and herbs."

"Sounds amazing." I replied, laughing. "And peaceful."

"If you'd like, you could join Shikamaru and I on our trip. We should be back tonight before it gets dark." Shikaku offered, which made Shikamaru jump.

"As cool as it would be for you to join us, I bet you're busy." Shikamaru commented with a sigh.

"Actually, I got today off." I replied, laughing.

"Lovely, we'd be glad to have you join us Leah." Shikaku told me, and then turned to Shikamaru. "I've got to run and talk to Lady Tsunade real fast, how about you two meet me by the village entrance in twenty minutes and we can leave."

"Sure thing." Shikamaru replied, and with that, Shikaku was gone.

"You don't mind me coming with you, do you?" I questioned Shikamaru as we started walking again.

"Not at all. As much as I like spending time with the old man, a whole day is sometimes way too much." Shikamaru answered, laughing. "Plus, we haven't gotten to spend any time together lately either."

"We've both been pretty busy haven't we?" I replied with a sigh.

"Yeah, it's all such a drag."

I decided to run home really fast before we left, just to let mom know where I was going. After I quickly changed into something other than my ninja outfit, I ran back down the stairs to head to the village gate.

"Where's Sakura?" I called out before I walked out the door.

"She said she was going out on a walk." Mom yelled back, and I heard her sigh. We have all seen that Sakura has been pretty depressed lately, ever since Saskue left. But that was a different story.

"Dear, you're forgetting your headband again." Mom told me as she walked out, laughing.

"Oh shit." I thought as I turned and ran up the stairs. This time when I came back down, I was tying my headband back into my purple hair. "Alright, I'm off."

"Have fun dear, and be safe! Remember, I want to meet this boyfriend of yours sometime!" Mom called out as I opened the door.

"He's not my boyfriend!" I screamed back, laughing. Well, not yet.

"So, you like this girl?" I heard Shikaku question as I walked up. Luckily, they hadn't seen me yet, so I quickly hid to listen to more of their conversation.

"Shut up dad, she could be walking up any minute now." I heard Shikamaru reply with a sigh.

"So you do like her." Shikaku concluded, laughing.

"Not funny." Shikamaru said back, and I saw him shake his head.

"Hey guys." I called out as I came out of hiding and started walking like a normal person. "Sorry I'm late, I almost forgot my headband."

"Wow Leah, you look…different." Shikamaru commented as soon as he saw me.

"Not really." I replied, hoping I wasn't blushing. Sure, I had decided to wear my long hair down instead of up in its usual ponytail, and I had replaced my ninja outfit with blue shorts and a flowly, girly tang top. Defiantly not my usual attire.

"Well kids, we better get going if we want to make it back here by nightfall." Shikaku interrupted as he turned and started walking out of the village.

"See you later Kotetsu and Izumo!" I called out with a wave as Shikamaru and I started walking to follow his dad. I always made a point to say goodbye to the two village guards since they always seemed so bored with their job. They waved and went back to whatever argument they were having. They reminded me of Zaine and Brandon, it was kind of scary.

Shikaku lead the way as we walked along the road, the two of us just following. I made small talk with Shikamaru, but Shikaku seemed lost in his own world as we walked. That wasn't anything new.

"So how did you manage to get the day off?" Shikamaru questioned randomly.

"Brandon and Zaine left with Misuri sensei early this morning on a mission that I wasn't needed for. Ten Ten is busy training with her team to do anything fun, Kiba is out on a mission so we couldn't go for a run, Sakura still lost in her despair." I answered. "After so much time of always having things to do, it was strange to not have anything at all."

"Well, I think you'll like the Port Village." He commented, smirking.

"Why's that?" I questioned back with a smirk of my own.

"It fits your personality. You'll see when we get there." Shikamaru replied as he looked over at me, smiling.


End file.
